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Characterization of a Cardboard Recycling Facility’s Mixed Plastic Waste for Beneficial Use

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Abstract

An issue with old cardboard container recycling is the generation of a plastic waste stream that currently either gets land-filled or burned. The contents of this rich plastic waste, which constitutes 35% of the exiting stream, are not well documented. This study is aimed at characterizing the plastic waste stream for engineering new second life products. The plastic waste from a Wandel screen processing unit was composed typically of hot melt adhesives (37%), polypropylene (32%), polyethylene (17%), and polystyrene (9%). Proportions varied 10% or less in each polymer category. The plastic waste was compounded, milled and injection molded into test specimens. DSC analysis showed that the polymers exist generally in separate phases. TGA thermograms determined that the onset degradation (405°C) of the mixed stream is an average of its components. In tensile tests, the mixed plastic waste stream performed comparably to its starting materials with a modulus of 9.6 MPa, ultimate strength of 8.7 MPa, and toughness of 52.6 J.

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Acknowledgments

Smurfit Stone Container Cooperation for partial project funding and materials. Diversified Plastics (Missoula, MT) for assistance with plastic processing. The FTIR spectrometer was supported by USDA-CSREES-NRI grant number 2005-35103-15243.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Tova Sardot & Garon Smith

  2. Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

    Armando G. McDonald

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  1. Tova Sardot
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  2. Armando G. McDonald
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  3. Garon Smith
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Correspondence to Tova Sardot.

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Sardot, T., McDonald, A.G. & Smith, G. Characterization of a Cardboard Recycling Facility’s Mixed Plastic Waste for Beneficial Use. Waste Biomass Valor 4, 161–171 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-012-9111-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-012-9111-0

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